About SHRM

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), formerly called the American Society for Personnel Administration (ASPA), was founded in 1948 by a group of just 28 individuals. These founding members anticipated the need for a national organization to represent the personnel profession. Their goal was to provide continued professional development opportunities, promote national networking, and to generally advance the interests of a profession they recognized as being in transition.

SHRM serves the needs of the human resource management professional by providing the most essential and comprehensive set of resources available. In addition, the Society is committed to advancing the human resource profession and the capabilities of all human resource professionals to ensure that HR is an essential and effective partner in developing and executing organizational strategy.

The steps toward building a national certification program for HR professionals began more than 50 years ago, as personnel managers worked to create a national association for their profession. While what is now known as the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) began certifying HR professionals in 1976, it truly got its start in September of 1973, when the board of directors of what was then called the American Society for Personnel Administration (ASPA) voted to approve the creation of a professional accreditation program for human resource managers. Through HRCI dedicated HR professionals can obtain test materials and register for testing to receive their Professional Human Resource (PHR), Global Professional Human Resources (GPHR) and Senior Professional Human Resource (SPHR) certifications. To learn more about testing, certifications and HRCI, please visit their website at:www.hrci.org